“It is critical in our efforts to [spend] 100% of our available resources this fiscal year,” the email from Deputy Chief Financial Executive Sanna Sims and procurement director Kathleen Miller stated. “It is also imperative that your organization meets its projected spending goal for June. . .” In 2010 Sims received a Presidential Rank Award for her ability to “consistently demonstrate strength, integrity, industry and a relentless commitment to excellence in public service.”   read more

Top U.S. military brass who toured the facility described the center as as large as the Supreme Allied Headquarters in Europe or the U.S. Central Command and, according to one two-star Marine general, “better appointed than any Marine headquarters anywhere in the world.” According to John Sopko, special inspector general for the reconstruction of Afghanistan: “The building will probably be demolished.”   read more

Taco Bell, Walgreens and Walmart are among the dozens of well-known companies that now use the prepaid cards for their workers. In some cases, employees no longer have the option of being paid by check or direct deposit. But using the cards usually means paying a fee, such as 50 cents for a balance inquiry, $1.75 for each cash withdrawal, or $2.25 for using an out-of-network A.T.M, or $2.95 for a paper statement, or $7 for not using the cards over a period of time.   read more

The U.S. Forest Service now spends nearly half of its yearly budget on wildfire protection, the report says, and more than 10% of the entire budget of the Department of the Interior. Federal fire protection expenses have gone up in part because of the more severe fire seasons. But it is also a result of allowing developers to build homes in and near forests and other wildlands that are at risk from wildfires.   read more

For $630,000, the bureau managed to increase the fan numbers for each page from about 100,000 to more than 2 million, according to a report from the inspector general. But some employees within the State Department objected to the plan, saying the agency was merely “buying fans.” Of the new people attracted to the pages, only 2% actually “liked” what they saw, or shared or commented about them.   read more

The rate is 35%, but the companies examined by the GAO paid an average of only 12.6% in 2010. Peter Schroeder at The Hill noted that even if corporations’ tax payments to foreign governments, states and local governments were factored in, the rate paid came out to only 17%. Companies have been getting away with paying much less than required through a combination of exemptions, deferrals, tax credits, and other incentives, the GAO concluded.   read more

Leading the way was Larry Ellison, founder and CEO of Oracle, the software company, who received $96.2 million in total pay. Of this amount, $90.7 million came in the form of stock options. Ellison’s income went up 24% compared to the previous year. Among his other acquisitions, in 2012 Ellison bought 98% of the Hawaiian island of Lanai. Meanwhile, Oracle shareholders’ returns were negative 22%.   read more

The power of these mega-donors is highlighted by the fact that not only did their money go to every winning congressional candidate last year, but 84% of those elected took more money from the mega-donors than they did from all of their small donors (those who gave $200 or less) combined.   read more

A new report by the inspector general (I.G.) of the Department of Health and Human Services identified more than 417,000 prescriptions in 2009 alone written by people who aren’t allowed under the law to do so, like massage therapists, athletic trainers, interpreters and others. The cost of the unauthorized prescriptions was $31.6 million, according to the study.   read more

Boeing billed the Pentagon for $13.7 million more than it should have, according to the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), including $2,286 for an aluminum bearing sleeve that really only costs $10 apiece. The Pentagon purchased 573 of the sleeves to be used on landing-gear doors, resulting in an overcharge of $1.3 million just for that particular device.   read more

The wages of disabled workers are based on how long it takes them to complete a task in comparison to abled workers. Goodwill’s CEO, John Gibbon, who is blind, has defended this practice, explaining to NBC that “It's typically not about their livelihood. It's about their fulfillment. It's about being a part of something.”   read more

The Department of the Treasury paid Comerica to provide prepaid debit cards to Social Security recipients who are poor or don’t have bank accounts or don’t trust banks. The bank did well by the switchover, while many Americans suffered. Comerica was paid $5 for every debit card it distributed to Social Security recipients—plus fees. For instance, Comerica was allowed to limit customers to only one free withdrawal a month. After that, a 90-cent fee per withdrawal was levied on the account.   read more

The new law, if adopted, would produce enough new revenues through taxes paid by immigrants-turned-citizens to reduce the deficit by $197 billion during the first 10 years. The savings would be even greater in the next decade, the CBO said. From 2024 to 2033, the deficit would shrink by $700 billion. During the latter time frame, government spending would increase by $262 billion, primarily due to refundable tax credits and health insurance subsidies kicking in.   read more

The FTC, which estimates that the pay-for-delay deals cost American consumers $3.5 billion per year in higher drug prices, announced that it plans to proceed with litigation, now that it has gotten a green light from the Supreme Court. So which side really came out ahead as a result of this ruling? Jeffery Cross, an antitrust expert with Freeborn & Peters LLP, told Reuters that that answer was simple: “The winners here are the trial lawyers.”   read more

Not only is the Pentagon wasting taxpayer dollars on overpriced contractors, the contractors’ role in running PPBS makes them, in the words of Defense contracting expert Chuck Spinney, “privy to—and in some cases deeply involved in—shaping the detailed decisions concerning how the Pentagon intends to spend its money over the next five or six years. That means, to put it charitably, there are conflicts of interest between the buyer and the sellers.”   read more

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this month that wages in the U.S. declined 4.3% during the first quarter of this year. The drop was the steepest on record, going back to 1947. But the first three months of 2013 were fantastic for banks, which posted a record $40.3-billion profit, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.   read more